Dense and high speed printed circuit board (PCB) designs require electrical components (i.e. capacitors, resistors, inductors, etc.) be placed as close as possible to active components (i.e. ASIC's, FPGA's, SERDES, etc.) to reduce noise and optimize signal quality. PCBs having these active components typically have a high pin count and have limited physical space available for placing such components within the footprint (e.g. within active components and/or within an array of vias) on the PCB.
To fit the necessary electrical components within the limited available space on the PCB footprint, designers may utilize electrical components having very small dimensions. These small electrical components are commonly used with good results in devices having less complex PCB designs, such as in higher volume, lower complexity consumer devices, such as cell phones, PDA's, cameras, etc. However, problems may arise when utilizing these small electrical components in devices having larger and more complex PCB designs.
Thus, it would be advantageous to place these small electrical components within the active components and within the limited space available on the footprint of a PCB in devices having larger and more complex PCB designs.